Clinton boasts double-digit lead as support for Trump plunges

Washington, (IANS) Presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton is holding a 12-point lead over her Republican rival Donald Trump as support for the latter tumbled in the past month, a poll released on Sunday showed.

Clinton enjoys 51 per cent of support among Americans, up by seven points from May, compared to Trump’s support at 39 per cent, which is down by seven points, according to the Washington Post-ABC News poll.

This is Clinton’s biggest lead over Trump since last fall and is a dramatic reversal from the May poll, in which Trump led Clinton slightly by 46 per cent to 44 per cent, Xinhua news agency reported citing the poll.

The poll discovered that 56 per cent of American voters believe Trump stands against their beliefs, while 64 per cent said Trump does not have the necessary credentials to be president.

Clinton’s lead over Trump narrows to 10 points by 47 per cent to 37 per cent, when the two third-party presidential candidates were mentioned in the poll.

Libertarian Party’s Gary Johnson gains 7 per cent of support, while Green Party’s Jill Stein garners only 3 per cent, according to the poll.

The controversial comments on women, minorities and Muslims made by Trump may have contributed to his recent slide in the poll, as the majority of American voters regard them as biased.

Overall, 66 per cent of Americans think Trump’s remarks as “unfairly biased,” while only 29 per cent said they are “not unfairly biased”.

Even among the Republicans, 41 per cent think Trump’s remarks are “unfairly biased”, while 53 per cent said they are “not unfairly biased”.

Trump has been criticised recently for publicly attacking a Mexican-American judge overseeing the Trump University fraud case.

The poll found that 68 per cent of Americans regard Trump’s criticism of Judge Gonzalo Curiel as racist and 85 per cent said they were inappropriate.